This past Memorial Day weekend I was lucky enough to once again to attend Comicpalooza in Houston, TX.  This is the fifth year that it has been held at the spacious George R Brown Convention Center.  I've covered this convention since it's second year when it was located inside West Oaks Mall.  It's with great pleasure that I can say it's come a long way.  Attendance this year seemed to be at an all time high.  I lived in Houston for almost 20 years and it's nice to be able to have a full sized comic convention in my former home town.  Luckily I only live a couple hours away so attending the con is easy.

 

When you walk into Comicpalooza's floor the first thing you notice is that you have room to move.  For anyone that's attended New York Comic Con or San Diego Comic Con, this is a breath of fresh air, literally.  The aisles are wide, everything is spread out, and there are plenty of places to sit and relax.  It also makes taking pictures easier since you can move out of a traffic area and get good shots of the cosplayers and the activities that are going on everywhere.

 

Compicpalooza is not your average comic convention.  Do you like more than just comics?  If you do then there's plenty for you to see.  Due to the size of the convention center, Compicpalooza has an entire area sectioned off for a wrestling ring, roller derby rink, swordplay demonstations, maker bot demonstrations, and much more.  This gives the con a much wider appeal than your typical comic con.  Steampunk and anime have a strong presence at this con from cosplayers, to costume designers, props, etc.

 

Celebreties are a large portion of any con and Comicpalooza continues to bring in A list talent.  This year's standout was most of the principle cast of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.EL.D.  Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, J. August Richards, Brett Dalton and Glenn Moreshower all appeared for photos and signings and had huge lines at their tables.  Also in attendence where Stan Lee, Lou Ferrigno, John Barrowman, Billy D. Williams, and a ton of others.  The highlight of the convention for me personally was attending the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel.  It's great to see the energy this cast brings to the fans.  Especially Clark Gregg, that man knows how to work a room and is really genuine.

 

 

It wouldn't be a comic convention without comics and comic talent.  Again Comicpalooza continues to improve in this area.  I saw many more comic vendors this year than in years past.  More vendors in general than years past.  For comic talent they had Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Michael Golden, Kevin Maguire, Shane Davis, Greg Capullo, and a bunch of local and regional talent sketching, selling prints and meeting with fans.

 

This year the convention expanded to four days.  Due to my work schedule, I was only able to attend on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday 

 

was the busiest I've ever seen this convention.  Sunday was more calm but still really steady.  There is plenty of staff on hand to assist with questions and directions.  As a member of the press it was nice that in the larger panel rooms they allowed press in early to get setup and have a nice view of the panel to record or take pictures.  This is rare for any convention and I wish more organizers would follow Comicpalooza's lead.  For outlets like ours that aren't major national networks or high profile media outlets, it's really appreciated.  The only thing the organizers need to work on is registration. The line Saturday for passes was 2-3 hours long.  I chalk this up to the expansion of the con in attendance and duration and hopefully they can have a better system worked out for 2015.  In Comicpalooza's defense this is an issue for most conventions outside of New York or San Diego.